Welcome, Abiana! Shrubs, Challah, and Garam Masala with Brainfood's newest team member

Submitted by Carina Gervacio on Friday, July 15, 2016

Working with Brainfood for the past few weeks has been an awesome experience. My job in the kitchen is to make Spent Grain Challah Bread and pizza dough to sell at the markets. Before Brainfood, I had never made my own Challah. Experiencing that process has been really fun and inspiring. My favorite combination to make so far has been the Garam Masala Sweet Potato Challah, which we are letting rise as I write. My favorite part about the process is definitely braiding. There are different styles of braids you can create based on how many rolls you have per loaf. Regardless of what you braid, I guarantee that they will come out beautifully.

Another amazing part about being in Brainfood is the beautiful garden. It’s rich with vegetables, fruit, trees and a variety of herbs. Just to name a few, we have Swiss Chard, Chives, Black and Red Raspberry, Basil, Thyme, Lemon Balm, Lavender, and Chamomille. As a rising herbalist, this garden gets my heart pumping. Part of my mission with Brainfood is to help Homegrown utilize what’s in the garden for their product line at the markets. There are a million things we could do, but here’s one great ideaHomegrown helped to come up with:

A shrub is a mixture of fruit and/or herbs, sugar (or any other sweetener) and vinegar. The combination creates a sweet and tangy taste. Traditionally, shrubs were taken as medicine (especially for bitter herbs), mixed in with alcoholic drinks, or just with sparkling water to cool you down on a hot summer day. Either way, herbal shrubs are a fun and tasty way to get your medicine in!

Here are a few combinations I found interesting via DIY Network:

1. Blackberry and Thyme in Balsamic Vinegar
2. Strawberry and Basil in Champagne Vinegar
3. Cherry and Sage in Champagne Vinegar
4. Wild Maine Blueberry and Lemon Verbena in Apple Cider Vinegar

How amazing do these sound! Be on the lookout soon for refreshing shrub combinations on the Brainfood Market Stand near you!

Abiana Patton-Toure